So I played soccer for Georgia Tech against the Tianjin University
kids (June 5, 2013)… We lost pretty badly. I ended up getting a turf burn on my
leg still hasn’t really healed yet. After that disaster, we went out to a bar
called Heaven where some people blacked out, some people danced their asses
off, and some people just casually drank.
That Thursday (June 6, 2013) we headed to Beijing again, but with
greater knowledge of how this place will work out. We got there that night and
although we were tired, it is only appropriate that we go out that night and
explore the university area of Beijing. We just got there and drank some, walk
around, and saw the club scene, which ended up being insane!!! Got to dance
around a bit, not caring about the amount of walking we would have to be doing…
The next day Julie, Kat, Chad, and I stuck together and walk to
Tiananmen Square in the morning as it rained on us. Tiananmen Square was huge
though. It was equipped with screens that lit up in the half of the square
playing some kind of advertisement. (Surprise, not..) We walked across
Tiananmen to go the Forbidden City. Now raining harder, we ventured into the
Forbidden City, and again it was huge! With such old architecture, you can’t
help but to be amazed by the monstrosity. The luxury these emperors had must
have been so grand. Every single time I thought we were done it kept on going.
After the raining disaster we called Forbidden City and Tiananmen
Square, we decided to head over to our hostel and freshen up and head to the
Temple of Heaven. It was so calm and peaceful and the rain had stopped leaving
a light fog around the city giving a more ominous mood to the entire area. When
I say fog I really mean pollution.
By this time we were all tired. Our last agenda was the Silk Market!
We already have been to the Pearl Market not too long ago at the Temple of
Heaven, but this Silk Market is the largest in Beijing. It lived up to the
reputation. It was huge and definitely overwhelming with people and bargaining!
The amount of stuff ranging from Beats headphones to household appliances! The
fake bags, shoes, and clothes were just too much! People (salespeople) had
limited English; they knew how to say Dior, Gucci, Beats headphone, handsome man,
pretty lady, and little more. they knew just enough to get people attention and
drag them to the store so they can purchase something. The salespeople were so
young some of them didn’t look to be any older than say 12. Maybe victims of
human trafficking? There is no way of knowing this and it’s frustrating. Their
business concept was non-existent. They had no idea of specializing, no idea of
trying to sell something different from the people next to them. Everyone
basically sold the same products. This sort of thing leads me to believe that
the distributors of these products are really in control. They sell to middle
or lower class merchants and make crazy profit, and the middleman sales to the
buyers hoping some of them will buy at the price they first offer, and some do!
You can negotiate the products down to whatever price you demand! (just to let
you know)
I went out to dinner with a friend after the Silk Market and came
back to find out the entire group in Beijing are going out that night to the
University district!
After a rocky finish, I came home with Chad and went to bed.
To be continued.
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